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Hot Backup for Frugal Pups Updated 2011-10-1
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Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Posts: 1350
Location: England
Posted: Thu 10 Nov 2011, 11:14
Post subject:
Hi Sylvander et al,
I shall be most interested to read what others say, as it seems, to me, that it
be asking for major trouble to
a particular backup save file (say, of Lupu 5.2.8) to the
version of that same Puppy (Lupu 5.2.8).
My regards
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Joined: 03 Apr 2007
Posts: 3425
Location: Oregon
Posted: Thu 10 Nov 2011, 15:52
Post subject:
I have to agree with you as I had written a restore utility for hot backup files.
I also stated as part of restoring that one should boot with pfix=ram so as not to have any pupsave file loaded.
There is no magic solution to doing a restore of a pupsave to a puppy running with a pupsave file loaded.
I tried to do a hot restore and I do not even want to talk about the results.
So either boot to another version of puppy or boot with pfix=ram to delete the pupsave you are replacing with a backup.
The other way would be to copy the backup over with a different name and on reboot, you will be given the option of which pupsave file to load.
Load the backup you copied and delete the original if you do not want it.
You actually can have as many pupsave files as you want in a frugal install directory and choose between them when you boot.
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Joined: 15 Dec 2008
Posts: 4439
Location: West Lothian, Scotland, UK
Posted: Thu 10 Nov 2011, 16:21
Post subject:
See this post.
I normally use Lupu booted from a live CD, with a lupusave on an internal HDD, but with that lupusave treated as though it's on a Flash Drive.
So then the other changes are made so the session is NEVER auto-saved DURING THE SESSION...
And I'm asked "Save the session = Yes/No?" at shut-down/reboot, so I can choose to not save then also.
2. Hence, although the lupusave can be read to have things loaded into RAM...
It would NOT be written to during any replacement by a RESTORED lupusave.
3. Would any subsequent write-back need to be made to the very same file as that which was read?
Or could the write-back be made to a replacement copy.
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Joined: 09 Oct 2006
Posts: 357
Posted: Fri 11 Nov 2011, 15:57
Post subject:
A hot restore option has been kicking around in the back of my head for a long time and I think it is possible, safe, and perhaps even easy to do. Time will tell.
Stay tuned.
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Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Posts: 1350
Location: England
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 08:10
Post subject:
Hi 2byte et al,
If it is possible to make a working "hot" save file restore package for a frugal Puppy installation; then does this mean that a user can, as of now,
delete and replace (or overwrite) the current
save file with an older backup copy?
My regards
PS I always do a "cold" restore (delete then copy and paste) using a different Puppy (others may reboot and choose an alternative save file),
if a "hot" restore is safe it would save me a few minutes (even without any new automated restore facility).
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Joined: 15 Dec 2008
Posts: 4439
Location: West Lothian, Scotland, UK
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 14:34
Post subject:
1. "
Stay tuned.
This is the kind of reason Puppy is so exciting.
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Joined: 09 Oct 2006
Posts: 357
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 16:53
Post subject:
Perhaps 'hot' restore is a bit misleading. Deleting or replacing files/libs that are in use is a sure fire recipe for disaster. The method I am using unloads the current save file from the union file system, does it's work, then reboots the system with the save file restored from a backup. That is the only safe way to accomplish it and is no more risky than choosing 'Reboot' from the menu.
The current stage of development. is wrapping it up into a GUI. Testing it on the various Pups will be next.
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Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Posts: 1350
Location: England
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 17:14
Post subject:
Hi 2byte,
Thanks for your helpful response. However, would you not agree that your term "hot" restore is "totally false" as opposed to "a bit misleading"?
Even so, I am sure Sylvander and others are looking forward to, and would greatky appreciate, a successful outcome to your restore project.
My regards
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Joined: 09 Oct 2006
Posts: 357
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 17:24
Post subject:
Well I'm really not sure what the absolute definition of 'hot' would be in this instance. Does having to reboot the system disqualify its use? Really, I would like to know.
I haven't made any claims that it is a hot restore to begin with BTW. Only that the idea has been in my mind for a while.
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Joined: 30 Jun 2006
Posts: 1107
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 17:43
Post subject:
This is becoming an important topic, in my opinion, as recent puppys seem to become more vulnerable to save file corruption. (Or maybe I'm becoming more daring, installing and uninstalling things I can not even pronounce properly
Reading through this thread an idea popped up:
While everyone is constantly reminding each other about the importance of making regular backups, reality is most of us simply forget to do it. I suspect real life and making backups are not really compatible..
What if the 'Hot Backup' would be a fully automated process? Save files are normally small files, so wouldn't it be ideal a backup-copy is saved somewhere after each session? Puppy can then just keep, say, the 3 most recent ones and delete anything older at shutdown..
It's not that modern HDD or even the cheapest usb keys lack space to do this...
If this is technically possible, it would add a new dimension to Puppy's reliability. No longer would a corrupted save file mean starting all over, because in just a few mouse-clicks Puppy would be running again with all the settings from, say, last night's save file.
(( A great example of what I propose is Xmarks. After years of struggling to keep my bookmarks alive between browsers and multiple OS's, here comes a service that takes all the hard work out of it. It simply keeps track of my changing bookmarks, so the moment I destroy my browser or my puppy, it is simply a matter of installing the addon and I'm up and running again. ))
What do you think?
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Joined: 09 Oct 2006
Posts: 357
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 18:26
Post subject:
Automating a backup at shutdown would be easy. It would be more difficult to implement it in a manner that would not draw the ire of Puppians.
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Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Posts: 1350
Location: England
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 18:34
Post subject:
But what about an
to backup on rebooting or shutdown. Also what about an option to automatically reload all running programs on a reboot?
Personally, I don't need either; but if either could be easily implemented then some users would.
My regards
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Joined: 30 Jun 2006
Posts: 1107
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 18:55
Post subject:
Thanks for the replies!
As jasper says, it could be an option.. this 'automated hot backup' would be a pet for those who like it.
I can only imagine one reason for the puppians ire: if this pet adds an unacceptable amount of time to the shutdown process. That is something I have no clue about. When the save file is on a HD, or a usb key told to behave like a HD, the session is already saved at shutdown. It would have to be copied to another location. This could be happening in real time as well I suppose?
Jasper's idea to provide the
to backup at shutdown is in fact really clever..It would be the ideal reminder to backup and it would be the easiest thinkable way.
Thanks again!
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Joined: 09 Oct 2006
Posts: 357
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 19:03
Post subject:
For sure an option would be the way to go. It would be too much like Windows to do it by default. But how best to implement it? As a prompt at every shutdown? Personally I would prefer it to be a 'set it and forget it' option like loading sfs files at boot.
Reloading the running programs? Since Puppy doesn't support sessions that would be something else that would add some extra polish to Puppy.
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Joined: 15 Dec 2008
Posts: 4439
Location: West Lothian, Scotland, UK
Posted: Sat 12 Nov 2011, 21:15
Post subject:
1. Personally, I'd like to be in control of whether/when a backup/restore is to be made.
2. At the moment...
When I shut down or reboot...
I'm offered the opportunity "to save or not to save" the session.
3. It would be possible perhaps, to then have a couple of options displayed at that point, or after the session has been saved.
(a) The 1st to be taken to a means to specify a location and frequency for an automatic backup, which arrangements then stay in force until altered.
This might be as an alternative to a manual hot backup made during the session.
Hence, the user could choose which method to use.
(b) The 2nd to implement or discontinue the implementation of the 1st.
3. Hence, not only would the session be saved [or not as the user likes]...
But also a backup would be made after that [or not as the user likes]...
Or alternatively, manually during the session after saving manually.
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By Obiya Williams, a member of the Rotaract Club of Abakaliki, Nigeria
During the second week of January, I was invited by a friend to a seminar in Abakaliki organized by the World Health Organization to train youth to assist in monitoring immunization efforts. At the end of the program, they conduct a test.
Luckily for me, I received a text several days later congratulating me for my test results and inviting me to serve as an independent monitor with a team taking part in National Immunization Days in February. After four days, I did not want it to end.
Listening to mothers share their previous vaccination experiences and working with a team of committed health care workers, doctors, and nurses was an uplifting experience. I also had a chance to visit with polio survivors and hear their stories of resilience and determination.
I was happy to be part of the team, trekking under the sun in search of children under the age of 5. I am proud my team was able to vaccinate thousands of children. A high point of the experience was watching our dedicated volunteers work with reluctant parents and convince them to allow their children to be vaccinated. It was a lot of work, but it was Rotary in action. We all worked together and developed bonds of friendship.
My experience motivated other Rotaractors to attend the seminars, and seek opportunities to serve as independent monitors. Let's join hands to combat polio and let peace work through our actions. A donation of just $.60 helps save a child from polio. Together we can prevent other children from suffering from this horrible disease.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
WOODSTOCK – On Jan. 18, 2009, Robin Burton Jr. was a drifter who likely took an offer for a dry and warm shelter, his family says, in good faith, not knowing it's where he would die in a gruesome murder.
Earlier that day, Kyle W. Morgan, 29, met Burton at a train station, and the pair unsuccessfully tried to buy drugs in Chicago and Crystal Lake.
Later at Morgan's Woodstock apartment, the two were drinking beer and playing video games when Morgan struck Burton in the head with a hammer.
Authorities found Burton's mutilated body in Morgan's apartment. Witnesses described the grisly crime scene, saying Burton was stabbed 20 to 30 times. Pieces of flesh were cut away from his body. Uno playing cards with the numbers 666 were placed on top of his chest. A skull and crossbones die rested on his temple. "Natural Born Killers" was in the DVD player.
The phrase, "It is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven," was written in blood on the walls.
On Thursday, McHenry County Judge Michael Feetterer sentenced Morgan to 30 years in prison. He previously pleaded guilty but mentally ill to first-degree murder for the death of Burton, 28.
Morgan could have been sentenced between 20 to 36 years under a sentencing agreement between attorneys.
Shortly after Burton's death, the Northwest Herald uncovered a social media page in which Morgan called himself "Thrill Kill Kyle." The Myspace profile displayed his fascination with macabre, true crimes and drinking blood.
At Morgan's apartment, authorities collected bizarre and disturbing poetry, writing and photographs. They found fan letters Morgan wrote to Dennis Rader and Richard Ramirez, both noted serial killers.
Morgan had a history or drug and alcohol abuse that dated back to his early adolescence, but a change in medication was chiefly to blame for his actions that day, his defense attorney Steven Greenberg said.
"[The defense] can make all the excuses they want," said Michael Combs, assistant state's attorney and chief of the Criminal Division. "He killed a man in a brutally horrific way."
Morgan's family admitted him in numerous treatment facilities all over the country. He briefly would appear rehabilitated before relapsing, said his father, Dean Morgan.
There were attempts to have Morgan involuntarily committed, but a Lake County Judge rejected it because he hadn't harmed anyone, his father said.
A doctor later prescribed Vyvanse, an amphetamine that increases the dopamine level in the brain, said Dr. Jonathan Howard, a forensic psychiatrist. Morgan was taking Vyvanse when Burton was murdered.
Howard called the drug "poison" and particularly dangerous for those with a bipolar diagnosis. By increasing the dopamine level in the brain, Vyvanse can exacerbate psychosis and cause those with bipolar disorder to become increasingly irritable or prone to violent outbursts.
"In an individual with bipolar disorder … this is an extremely poor choice," Howard said.
Morgan's first violent episode was in 2008, a few weeks after starting the medication. He cut his then girlfriend in the butt before jumping from a second-story balcony, believing he could fly.
A second forensic psychiatrist, Dr. James Cavanaugh, described Morgan's mental illness and substance abuse, dark thoughts and morbid obsessions as lighter fluid; Vyvanse was the match.
"[What] resulted is a state of mind simply out of control," Cavanaugh said. "There was no impulse control and it made no sense. It wasn't premeditated."
He called the crime "an impulse" and not likely to reoccur.
As the courtroom cleared, the Burton and Morgan families hugged, declaring there were no winners.
"I just hope the sentence he was given will get him some help," Burton's uncle, Rick Johnson said. "I feel bad for the Morgan family as well."
Morgan sentenced to 30 years for grisly murder
WOODSTOCK – On Jan. 18, 2009, Robin Burton Jr. was a drifter who likely took an offer for a dry and warm shelter, his family says, in good faith, not knowing it's where he would die in a gruesome murder.


text:
Less roof. More space
Volvo FH LOW SLEEPER CAB
The low sleeper cab lets you access and easily manoeuvre on routes where vehicle height is limited. Only 320 centimetres from road to roof, the low sleeper cab is ideal for mining, logging and other height-sensitive applications.
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How it adds up
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text:
A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
The Austrian School of Economics emerged after the publication in 1871 of a trilogy of works (by Jevons, Walras, and Menger) which introduced the idea of the subjective theory of value and began what has been called "the marginal revolution" in economic thought. Leading theorists in the 20th century were Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Murray Rothbard, and Israel Kirzner.
For more information see:


text:
Posted 10 years ago
(7 items)
I know they're in kind of rough shape but does anyone know what the "pitcher" was supposed to be used for? It seems to be made of steel or some other heavy metal. I was thinking it may have been used for campouts to heat water for coffee, etc.
If you know any more than I do, please submit some info. Thanks.


text:
Wednesday 12 December 2018 (18:30 -19:30)
Wednesday 12 December 2018 (18:30 -19:30)
Dublin Shambhala Center
Dublin Shambhala Center
Contact person : Mark Price
Mon to Fri 6.30-7.30 pm - All welcome
This is a daily sitting meditation practice, running from 6.30 to 7.30 pm, Mon to Fri. It consists of 2x25min sitting periods with a 10 min walking meditation in between. There will be no instruction or discussion, simply meditation practice.
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This meditation is open to all, we warmly invite you to join us.
There is a suggested donation of 5-10 euro for this to help with our running costs.


text:
Pretty sweet news: the Klipsch Image X5, a great earphone which usually sells for 250$ has dropped to 149.99$ today only! It is a balanced, comfortable inner earphone which keeps the outside out and the music in. Though TMA has not reviewed it, shigzeo has spent a considerable time at the Apple Store in Seoul auditioning and wishing. If only I lived in a place where Amazon ships!
Klipsch Image X5 Noise Isolating Earphones


text:
Our Medical Advisors
The AllergyKids Medical Advisory Team is comprised of respected Doctors, Physicians, and Pediatricians from around the country…
Home » About Us » Blog » Moms: The Power to Prevent
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Nutrition is Key Focus
Moms indicated that in 2013, they want to be more organized in how they shop (41 percent), and they want to make fewer trips to the grocery store (33 percent). Additionally, they would like to be more organized with weekly meal planning (67 percent) and make meals ahead and freeze them (51 percent). Moms are looking to food brands to help them become more organized.
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Cooking With Technology
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In close? "Food brands must evaluate how they are using these trusted channels to deliver the right messages, mom to mom."
Time to get busy building that communication channel. The health of our children are depending on it.


text:
| 12.2°C Dublin
ALEX FERGUSON has been monitoring Frank Lampard's position at Chelsea and is considering making a sensational summer move for the player, whom he has always admired.
Lampard is understood not to be averse to a switch to Old Trafford this summer and after the player's agent announced that the midfielder would "in no circumstances" be offered a fresh contract to stay at Stamford Bridge beyond this season, a move for the player is a genuine possibility in a summer when the Manchester United midfield will need reinforcing. Lampard is already free to speak to United, as he enters the final six months of his contract.
With Lampard 35 in June, Ferguson would be asking the United board to sanction a deal for a player who would have no sell-on value at a club still struggling under the weight of the Glazer debt.
But the immediate results delivered by 29-year-old Robin van Persie have demonstrated the value to United of deviating from the usual club policy of seeking players under the age of 25.
With Paul Scholes looking increasingly likely to retire for good this summer, Lampard would be an attractive prospect.
Ferguson considered bidding for Lampard when he joined Chelsea from West Ham for £11million in 2001 and has made no secret of his admiration for him over the years.
"Lampard is quite an interesting case. He is an exceptional individual," the United manager claimed in 2005.
With possibly only one year of his own United career to run as he heads into the 2013-14 campaign, he will be tempted by the fact that Lampard offers certainties, unlike a young or overseas player, who may take time to bed in.
Ferguson will feel that the excellent physical condition Lampard has maintained offers potential for him to deliver the same for United that Ryan Giggs has offered through a series of rolling one-year contracts.
He would be less of a gamble than Michael Owen, who never entirely shook off injury after arriving in the summer of 2009 on a free transfer, aged 29.
The United manager will also have in mind what Henrik Larsson delivered for him after he was signed on a three-month loan deal in the winter of 2006, at the age of 35.
Ferguson said he would have "done anything" to keep the Swede after he fulfilled a pledge to his family to return to Sweden in March 2007, and politely rejected the manager's requests to extend his time at Old Trafford.
A United move for Lampard this month seems highly unlikely, since Chelsea reflect most clubs in being unwilling to sell to their rivals in mid-season.
A two-year QPR deal is equally doomed for that reason, though manager Harry Redknapp has admitted that Lampard is too good to join him at Loftus Road.
Chelsea are unlikely to block a move abroad for Lampard this month, if interest from China or the US materialises.
The biggest challenge seems to be finding the package that would attract Lampard, who currently earns in excess of £140,000 a week.


text:
CGD has an interesting short essay up, written by Matthew Darling, Saugato Datta, and Sendhil Mullainathan, entitled "The Nature of the BEast: What Behavioral Economics Is Not." The piece aims to dispel a few myths about behavioral economics, while offering a quick summary of what this field is, and what its goals are. I've been looking around for a good short primer on BE, and so I had high hopes for this piece…unfortunately, for two reasons the piece did not live up to expectations.
First, the authors tie themselves in a strange knot as they try to argue that behavioral economics is not about controlling behavior. While they note that BE studies and tools could be used to nudge human behavior in particular directions, they argue that "What distinguishes the behavioral toolset [from those of marketers, for example], however, is that so many of the tools are about helping people to make the choices that they themselves want to make." This claim sidesteps a very important question: how do we know what choices they want to make? What we see as problematic livelihoods outcomes might not, in fact, be all that problematic to those living those outcomes, and indeed might have local rationales that are quite reasonable. While this might seem an obvious point, most BE work that I have seen seems to rest on a near-total lack of understanding of why those under investigation engage in the behaviors that "require explanation". Therefore, the claim that BE helps people make the choices they want to make is, in fact, rather patriarchal in that the determination of what choices people want to make does not rest with those people, but with the behavioral economist. Sadly, this is a fairly accurate representation of much work done under the heading of BE. It would have been better if the authors had simply pointed out that BE is no more obsessed with incentives than any other part of economics, and if people are worried about behavioral control, they'd best have a look at the US (or their own national) tax code and focus their anxiety there.
Second, the authors argue "Behavioral economics differs from standard economics in that it uses a more realistic (and more complicated) model for people [and their decisions]." Honestly, I have seen no evidence for a coherent model of humans or their behavior in BE. What I have seen is a lot of rigorous data collection, the results of which are then shoehorned into some sort of implicit explanatory framework laden with unexamined assumptions that generally do not hold in the real world. Rigorously identifying when particular stimuli result in different behaviors is not the same thing as explaining how those stimuli bring about those behaviors. BE is rather good at the former, and not very good at all at the latter. The authors are right – we need more realistic and complicated models of human decision-making, and there are some out there (for example, see here and here – email me if you need a copy of either .pdf). BE would do well to actually read something outside of economics if it is serious about this goal. There are a couple of disciplines out there (for example, anthropology, geography, some aspects of sociology and social history) that have long operated with complex framings of human behavior, and have already derived many of the lessons that BE is just now (re)discovering. In this light, then, this short paper does show us what BE isn't: it isn't anthropology, geography, or any other social science that has already engaged the same questions as BE, but with more complex framings of human behavior and more rigorous interpretations of observed outcomes. And if it isn't that, what exactly is the point of this field of inquiry?


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Strangely enough, this got me to thinking about another moral absolute for many, many of my fellow citizens: the idea that the United States and her citizens represent something unique among all the nations and peoples of the world, a beacon of freedom, a nation given a special mission by God to spread democracy and human freedom around the world....
A city on a hill....
The greatest country God gave any people...
Manifest destiny....
They hate us for our freedom....
As far as I know (and most authorities agree with me), the term American Exceptionalism was coined by the Frenchman, Alexis deToqueville in his Democracy in America, and consisted originally of five inter-related conceptual observations about what made our society tick:
And, at some point, the concept of Anti-Statism ended up in the mix.
There's an outstanding primer to both the concept, its advocates, and how it has changed over the years here.
In the 20th Century, American Exceptionalism in the Toquevillian sense was assumed to be part of the answer to the question, Why has America--unlike the other industrialized nations--never developed a major Socialist or Labor Party movement?
[A fair question: after reading Stephan Thernstrom's Poverty and Progress in graduate school, which challenged the idea of upward social mobility in America in the late 19th Century, I had one of those blinding flashes that's either insight or unsubstantiated fantasy, in which I speculated that in American extreme geographic mobility often substitutes for (or distorts) true social mobility. One of those things I'd like to have had time to research along the way....]
One of the most intriguing formulations of the consequences of American Exceptionalism that I have ever read was written by historian Seymour Martin Lipset [who has had a number of different positions on the issue throughout his career]:
Born out of revolution, the United States is a country organized around an ideology which includes a set of dogmas about the nature of a good society. Americanism, as different people have pointed out, is an "ism" or ideology in the same way that communism or fascism or liberalism are isms. As G. K. Chesterton put it: "America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed. That creed is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity in the Declaration of Independence. . . ." As noted in the Introduction, the nation's ideology can be described in five words: liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, and laissezfaire. The revolutionary ideology which became the American Creed is liberalism in its eighteenth- and nineteenth-century meanings, as distinct from conservative Toryism, statist communitarianism, mercantilism, and noblesse oblige dominant in monarchical, state-church-formed cultures.
Other countries' senses of themselves are derived from a common history. Winston Churchill once gave vivid evidence to the difference between a national identity rooted in history and one defined by ideology in objecting to a proposal in 1940 to outlaw the anti-war Communist Party. In a speech in the House of Commons, Churchill said that as far as he knew, the Communist Party was composed of Englishmen and he did not fear an Englishman. In Europe, nationality is related to community, and thus one cannot become un-English or un-Swedish. Being an American, however, is an ideological commitment. It is not a matter of birth. Those who reject American values are un-American.
Wow. Those last couple sentences strike pretty hard.
Then there's Lipset's observation about the nature of labor movements in US history:
Prior to the 1930s, the American trade union movement was also in its majority anti-statist. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was syndicalist, believed in more union, not more state power, and was anti-socialist. Its predominant leader for forty years, Samuel Gompers, once said when asked about his politics, that he guessed he was three quarters of an anarchist. And he was right. Europeans and others who perceived the Gompers-led AFL as a conservative organization because it opposed the socialists were wrong. The AFL was an extremely militant organization, which engaged in violence and had a high strike rate. It was not conservative, but rather a militant anti-statist group. The United States also had a revolutionary trade union movement, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The IWW, like the AFL, was not socialist. It was explicitly anarchist, or rather, anarcho-syndicalist. The revived American radical movement of the 1960s, the so-called New Left, was also not socialist. While not doctrinally anarchist, it was much closer to anarchism and the IWW in its ideology and organizational structure than to the Socialists or Communists.
This would all be something of a curiousity for historians and political theorists, I guess, except for the jingoistic, evangelical turn that American Exceptionalism has taken over the past few decades.
These days we find the idea of American Exceptionalism invoked in churches and along the campaign trail to justify all manner of foreign adventures or public policies.
Both Libertarians and Progressives (merely to name ideologies on opposite ends of most political spectra) regularly appeal to American History to support their positions, when--in reality--they are appealing to a constructed public memory of an idealized society that never really existed.
[The surest sign that politicians are distorting history for their own ideological purposes, I tell my students regularly, is to check to see if their lips are moving.]
Moreover--and this is a touchy subject, going toward religion and all, but what the hell--the whole concept of American Exceptionalism goes against the grain of Christianity as I understand it. Isn't it the case that all souls are equal (even if equally loathesome, thanks to original sin) in the eyes of God? If so, in a religion that emphasizes the spiritual equality of all human beings--men and women, slave and free, Hebrew and Greek, a creed that emphasizes humility, where do we get off in internalizing the concept that where we live and the accident of our birth makes us inherently special?
Yet we have this ugly tendency to usurp Biblical language (especially what is called kingdom language) for our own political agendas, invoking God in prayers of war and battle because--as Americans--we apparently don't have to worry about whether our cause is just.
It's a tautology: we are Americans and therefore our cause is just.
I think there is a valid use--at least philosophically speaking--for the concept of American Exceptionalism, but that use falls in the nature of a challenge rather than a justification.
As a Libertarian and (perhaps paradoxically, I'm not certain) a Catholic, I've always had a tough time with American Exceptionalism, primarily, I think, because both claim to be universalist doctrines. This leads me into some pretty strange places, such as my own convoluted stand on immigration (specifically by brown people without papers).
The man I will always think of as my priest (Fr. Paul Mast) led me to the question of whether American laws should trump God's injunction that all people have the right to go peacefully to (or flee from) anywhere in search of a better life for themselves and their families.
They are coming here to take jobs away from real Americans, they're here to wreck our medical system and bleed dry our government benefits....
Strange, isn't it?
Throughout most of our history we have accepted the doctrine that immigrants to America were moved by freedom, liberty, and economic opportunity (American Exceptionalism!), that they each brought two working hands rather than one consuming mouth...
This last generation of immigrants, however, has suddenly become parasitic leeches. When did I miss the transition (don't worry--somebody will not notice that was a rhetorical question and set me straight in the comments, never fear)?
Does it not strike anyone else, on either first or last day of the year, that we as a nation are so damn sure of the value of American Exceptionalism that we wish to export the travel package to the rest of the world---
Political power flows from the barrel of a gun--stop that, Mao!
--but slam shut the gates and pull up the drawbridge when people want to come here by the millions and partake?
American Exceptionalism is a funny thing--funny here being used in a sort of Dennis-Rodman-he's-a-funny-freak-but-you-can't-look-away sense--an insidious thing.
It tries to make us all super-nationalists. It encourages us to rewrite history (next time you're watching Saving Private Ryan or The Big Red One, ask yourself what your high school history book told you about the significance of the Russian Front in World War Two). It requires us to categorize those who disagree with us--either fellow citizens or the leaders of foreign countries--as enemies to be vanquished and not people to be convinced.
Yes, I know there are real threats and real enemies out there. I spent twenty-one years wearing my country's uniform; I've spent a career studying military history. And I've learned that kill 'em all and let God sort it out makes a much better movie than a foreign policy.
This is the end of a year that has been troubling to me, both personally and in my interpretation of world events. I believe we are less safe--that my children's future is less safe--because we persist in pursuing interventionist policies abroad and intrusionist policies at home.
The ball will drop in less than two hours past the mummified face of Dick Clark, channeled through Ryan Seacrest.
If I have one resolution for the New Year that I have any chance of keeping (I gave up on those weight and exercise lies a long time ago), it's this: I will challenge those who blindly raise the standard of American Exceptionalism to deal with real facts, real history, and even real Christianity before they go after their fellow citizens as un-American, and reach the point where the photographic image of a wounded, dying human being no longer evokes an empathic reaction because that person was born and lived in Myanmar, or Gaza, or Cabinda, or even south-central LA.


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Does cultural studies have its own territory that is worthy of being defended?
Given that the autonomy of disciplines has been vehemently debated and de facto denied as usefully productive by many, how can cultural studies be the source of any resistance whatsoever without staking out a particularized terrain and theatre of potential operations? (channelling Boris Groys in Art/Power", 2008)
What would a practice-based PhD look like in CCS that would of necessity claim its territorial, conceptual, and political stakes here as opposed to Visual Cultures, Media & Communications, or Fine Arts? How might this be a useful and even crucial attachment as opposed to merely a convenient academic anchor?
Surely CCS must argue for some particular autonomy (to bring in a much disputed term).
The greater or at least ancillary challenge however would then be to tamper with/expand the existing definitions and formal requirements of the PhD at the level of the university which has very specific guidelines/understandings of what a thesis project should look like.
Who are we? What do we do? How do we do it?
I'm stating the obvious when I say that it's important to acknowledge that our concerns (collectively and individually) are not necessarily one and the same (something Jennifer notes on her blog entry). The challenges for students and by extension their needs are not identical to those that face faculty as ongoing members of the Goldsmiths research and academic community.
The questions of "who we are" (institutionally as CCS housed within Goldsmiths, as cultural studies in the UK more generally, as researchers—faculty and students) and "what" and "how" do we do the things that we do, must then be continually re-worked and productively coupled with the more urgent question:
"How is a subject of any kind produced in the world"? To attack the headquarters must, in my opinion, place this question at its core.
Seminars & Events
I think its important that faculty have agency in terms if bringing readings forward to the student seminars. This doesn't have to be an overly consultatively process because its impossible to know in advance what it is that might perturb and/or provoke us – something that may be embedded in the readings themselves or be triggered in the resulting discussion.
I'm not overly concerned in having my own particular interests mirrored back to me but rather am much interested in the unexpected – ideas that enter into the orbit of my universe that I had never considered before or even knew existed.
Real interest can only ever reside in the fact that one does not know a priori what history these discussions will ultimately be a question of.
I can't speak for my fellow students but feel that it is important to go to seminars and be actively involved in the events at the college because this is generally where life-long networks are established – to remain in the contact zone so to speak, so that we might create new categories of assembly that don't as of yet exist.
These are emergent processes that can happen both organically as students get together in self-organizing reading groups, arrange screenings, facilitate events etc., but can also be evolved through the structural and formal elements of CCS.
There are PhD programs where one can happily sequester themselves at the British Library for four years but it seems to me that CCS was set up in part to counter this model and provide alternate modes of critical engagement – what these are exactly is what this series of discussions is attempting to figure out.
CCS as a Collective Project
I'm committed to CCS as a collective project but also recognize that it contains within it many heterogeneous subfields of potential. I propose mobilizing small-scale intensive projects under the auspices of CC that can connect faculty, students and ideas to other research/creative clusters (in the UK and abroad). This is not to "go out in the world" as was critiqued last time we gathered because it presupposes that we [CCS] are not of the world but rather to acknowledge our potential to connect with other non-aligned organisations/entities.
For example, the Roundtable in Research Architecture at Goldsmiths has been involved in various conferences, exhibitions, and events under the collective banner of RA. We have even opened up our PhD seminars to the public upon certain occasions.
Could CCS operate as a larger structural device (a kind of resource galaxy), that would consist of smaller subgroups and organisations (cultural constellations) each of which would participate in public events and research activities as specifically named entities? I know that the urgent issue of our of relevance with respect to the college is linked in part to perceptions of visibility and profile. Although these identifiable subgroups would be anchored within CCS and publicised as such, these smaller categorical assembles would allow different constituencies and ideas to move and in out them as needed.
Some Basics
- we need to stop making distinctions between theory & practice and understand them as mutually affected terms and terrains of culture making
- we need to refrain from picking and choosing between practices – privileging certain practices over others
- when we approach a non-textual work entirely through the register of language potential tools for thinking are lost
- we need to develop alternate forms of critique and evaluation appropriate to different forms of practice (whether this is the crafting of a philosophic concept or the scoring of a musical composition)
- we need to acknowledge and articulate the ways in which practice retrospectively performs itself as research
- we need to reinvent components of the thesis requirements = adaptive structures that allow other temporal and spatial elements (non-textual) to move into the thesis project


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DWTS Season 12, Week 6 – No Rest For The Weary (Videos)
Usually, our dancing couples party after the Results show. Well, this wasn't the case last night. Right after the show, the remaining couples went straight to rehearsals to practice their team dances. They didn't finish until after midnight. PopTvDotCom caught them arriving and leaving rehearsals. Corky Ballas and Joey McIntyre are also interviewed in the second video.


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Helping teens prepare for surgery
What happens during surgery
You and your anesthesiologist will work together to decide how and where you will go to sleep for your surgery. This is a good time to ask questions about falling asleep with anesthesia.
When you walk into the operating room, you will see the surgery bed. The surgery room staff will help you get on the bed. The anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist will begin giving anesthesia.
Once you are asleep under anesthesia, the operating room team will begin their work. The team members include the anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, circulating nurse, scrub nurse/tech, and the surgeon.
The circulating nurse will have a warm blanket to keep you covered throughout the procedure. The nurse also will place a safety strap across your knees to keep you safe and secure on the bed. The nurse and the anesthesiologist will place monitors on you to safely watch you during the procedure. These monitors include the blood pressure, blood pressure cuff, the EKG, and the pulse oximeter.
The anesthesiologist will then help you fall asleep with anesthesia (types of anesthesia) by using a mask or an IV.
Before surgery starts, the circulating nurse stops all activity to confirm with everyone present what procedure will be done for you, and to recheck your ID bracelet. This is one of many steps to make sure you stay safe.
Once you are in a deep anesthesia sleep, the nurse anesthetist will monitor your breathing and anesthesia sleep during the entire surgery. In the case of a long procedure the circulating nurse may phone the waiting area to keep your parents updated on the progress of the surgery. A tracking monitor in the family waiting room helps them know where you are in the surgery process. It is confidential-using numbers instead of names.
When the surgery is over the surgical site may be bandaged. The anesthesia team will stop the anesthetic medicine. The surgeon may come to the waiting area to talk with your parents.


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Asked by Jeff, El Centro, California
Losing weight has always been tough for me. It's even tougher for me now that I'm in my 40s. However, I made a resolution for 2010, and with diet and exercise, I've managed to lose 35 pounds.
I've managed to lose weight through grit and determination. The problem is, I am always hungry and my appetite is ravenous, difficult to satisfy. I want to eat until I'm full EVERY TIME I eat. If it wasn't for force of will, I would continue to eat and pack the pounds back on.
Is there anything I can do to fight the hunger? I try to snack on things that are healthy, but it seems no matter what I snack on, I get penalized with putting weight back on. I worry that if the only thing I have going for me is grit and determination, that might not be enough to stay in the fight.
Diet and Fitness Expert
Dr. Melina Jampolis
Physician Nutrition Specialist
Hi, Jeff! This is a common question. Hunger is a battle for many people who are trying to lose weight or have lost weight and are trying to maintain their weight.
Once you form and fill fat cells, the body has a well-designed system to maintain them, so hunger and weight regain are common. Hunger is particularly complicated, as it relies on numerous systems throughout the body including the brain, stomach and gut.
The science of satiety, or fullness, is a constantly growing field (along with our waistlines, unfortunately). There are a few things that have been proven to control hunger better and help you eat fewer calories without necessarily compromising the volume of food.
Fullness begins with the act of chewing, so solid calories tend to be more filling than liquid calories. A study presented by a well-known researcher in this field, Dr. Barbara Rolls, showed that an apple is more filling than apple sauce, which is more filling than apple juice.
Why? Because solid food requires chewing, thereby beginning the process of digestion and the release of digestive enzymes that begin to trigger fullness. It simply slows down the process of caloric consumption because it takes longer to chew an apple than to guzzle a 6-ounce glass of apple juice. In addition, an apple contains fiber, which has added benefits (see below).
So make sure the majority of your calories come from solid food, and limit sugary beverages and alcohol, which contain empty calories, and even juice, coffee drinks, shakes and smoothies if you don't find them as satisfying.
The one exception that you should include in your diet is noncream-based soups, which Rolls and others have shown can decrease calories significantly when consumed before a meal.
While liquid calories in beverage form are less satisfying, eating water-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and low-fat or fat-free dairy can help you eat fewer calories without cutting serving sizes. Try diluting calories in everything you eat by adding vegetables, fruit or fat-free dairy.
Examples including adding vegetables to pasta dishes and casseroles, topping frozen yogurt with fresh fruit, and making sauces or dressings with fat-free dairy instead of cream or oil.
Fiber, especially water-soluble fiber, may play an especially important role in feeling full, as it forms a gel with water in your stomach that slows the emptying of food from the stomach; slows the absorption of blood sugar, which also prevents the rapid drop that can lead to hunger; and allows the food to have more contact with the intestinal wall, which may help with the release of fullness hormones.
Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, beans, barley, apples, strawberries, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, grapes, oranges, peaches, pears, plums and prunes. Insoluble fiber can also be useful, as it takes longer to chew and is bulky, so it causes physical distension of the stomach without providing significant calories.
Good sources of insoluble fiber include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Be wary of products with added fiber as it is unclear whether added fiber has any effect on fullness or blood sugar stability and it does not provide added bulk in most cases.
Finally, lean protein is an essential component of fullness and weight maintenance, as it triggers the release of fullness hormones and can help keep blood sugar stable, thereby controlling hunger. I encourage my patients to try to eat some form of lean protein with every meal and snack if they struggle with hunger.
Good sources include skinless poultry, fish, lean red meat, low-fat or fat-free dairy, eggs/egg whites, and if you are on the go, protein bars without too much sugar or fat.
Congratulations on losing 35 pounds, and I hope some of my suggestions can help you keep the weight off for good!
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rBGH is a genetically engineered artificial hormone injected into dairy cows to make them produce more milk. Despite opposition from scientists, farmers and consumers, the US currently allows dairy cows to be injected with recombinant bovine growth hormone also known as recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST). Originally manufactured by the Monsanto Corporation, this genetically engineered hormone forces cows to artificially increase milk production by 10 to 15 percent. Today, controversy over safety still surrounds its use.
What is rBGH (and rBST)?
Somatotropin is a naturally occurring hormone produced in the pituitary gland of animals; bovine somatotropin (BST) triggers nutrients to increase growth in young cattle and lactation (milk production) in dairy cows. Artificial BST is produced using recombinant DNA technology (biotechnology), and called rBST for short. rBST is commonly known as Bovine Growth Hormone When injected into cows, it increases milk production 10 to 15 percent. One government study from 2007 estimated that approximately 17 percent of all cows in the US were given this artificial growth hormone.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rBGH in 1993, despite criticism that the effects of rBGH were never properly assessed. The FDA's approval was based solely on one study administered by Monsanto in which rBGH was tested for 90 days on 30 rats. Although the FDA stated that the results showed no significant problems, the study was never actually published.
The FDA continues to assure consumers that rBGH is safe for cows and humans, despite evidence to the contrary. In 1994, the FDA prohibited dairies from claiming there is any difference between milk from rBGH-injected cows and milk produced without the artificial hormone.
In 1998, an assessment by Health Canada determined that the results of Monsanto's 90-day study provided reason for review before its approval. Today, the European Union, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada do not allow the use of rBGH due to animal and human health concerns.
Animal and Human Risks
A 1991 report by Rural Vermont, a nonprofit farm advocacy group, revealed that rBGH-injected cows that were part of a Monsanto-financed study at the University of Vermont suffered serious health problems, including an alarming rise in the number of deformed calves and dramatic increases in mastitis, a painful bacterial infection of the udder, which causes inflammation, swelling, and pus and blood secretions into milk. These findings are supported by Health Canada's 1998 report, which concluded that the use of rBGH increases the risk of mastitis by 25 percent, affects reproductive functions, increases the risk of clinical lameness by 50 percent, and shortens the lives of cows.
To treat mastitis outbreaks, the dairy industry relies on antibiotics. Critics of rBGH point to the subsequent increase in antibiotic use (which contributes to the growing problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria) and inadequacies in the federal government's testing program for antibiotic residues in milk.
Milk from rBGH-treated cows contains higher levels of IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor-1). While humans naturally have IGF-1, elevated levels in humans have been linked to colon and breast cancer. Although no direct connection has been made between elevated IGF-1 levels in milk and elevated IGF-1 levels or cancer in humans, some scientists have expressed concern over the possibility of this relationship.
On the Offense
While the FDA was lax in its review, Monsanto aggressively attempted to suppress reports about the health risks involved in the use of the drug. In 2001, Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, two respected investigative journalists at a Fox News television station in Tampa, Florida, were fired after months of controversy surrounding their investigative report on rBGH use in Florida dairies. According to the journalists, the station delayed airing their story and demanded they include inaccurate information about rBGH after Monsanto threatened the station with legal action.
In 2003, Monsanto asked the state of Maine to stop issuing an official Quality Seal, which the state only granted to dairies that do not use rBGH. Maine refused. Later that year, Monsanto sued Oakhurst Dairy, Maine's largest dairy operation, over its rBGH-free labels. Ultimately, Oakhurst changed its labels, adding the statement, "FDA States: No significant difference in milk from cows treated with artificial growth hormone."
Nonetheless, Monsanto lobbied the Canadian government to win rBGH approval. Dr. Margaret Hayden, a Health Canada researcher, reported to the Canadian Senate that officials from Monsanto had offered between $1 million to $2 million to Health Canada scientists—an offer she says could only be understood as an attempted bribe.
The Revolving Door
Given the potential danger to the milk-drinking public and the proven danger to cows, critics argue that the FDA's approval of rBGH was the result of pressure placed on the agency by Monsanto and its powerful lobbyists. Dr. Richard Burroughs, a senior FDA scientist overseeing the rBGH safety studies, claims he was fired because his concerns about the safety of rBGH delayed the approval process.
Critics also note the existence of a "revolving door" between the FDA and Monsanto. For example, Michael Taylor, the FDA official responsible for writing the labeling guidelines, had worked as a Monsanto lawyer before joining the FDA. Likewise, the deputy director of the FDA's New Animal Drugs Office had been a Monsanto research scientist working on rBGH safety studies, while another researcher in the same office had conducted Monsanto-funded rBGH research at Cornell University, working under a paid Monsanto consultant. Congress' General Accounting Office ruled in 1994 that none of these cases of longstanding connections to Monsanto posed a conflict of interest.
In the News Today
Despite the efforts of Monsanto and the dairy industry to promote rBGH, farmers, the public has largely rejected the artificial hormone.
In response to growing consumer concern, some dairies label their milk as "rBGH-free" or "No artificial growth hormones." In attempt to make these labeling practices illegal, a pseudo "grassroots" nonprofit called American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT) was formed in February 2008. Created by a public relations firm founded by two ex-Monsanto employees, AFACT received funding from Monsanto before it was dissolved in 2011.
The fight over milk labels took place across the US; attempts to ban rBGH-free labeling occurred in:
- Pennsylvania: In October 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture outlawed hormone-free labeling, claiming the labels are "false" and "misleading" to consumers. In reaction to public outcry, Governor Ed Rendell allowed hormone-free labeling to be reinstated in January 2008.
- Ohio: In February 2008, Ohio Agriculture Director, Robert Boggs, approved the use of rBGH-free labeling only if the FDA's disclaimer, "no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST-supplemented and non-rbST-supplemented cows," was also included, in a way that made labeling virtually impossible. However, in October 2010 a federal court overturned the rBGH labeling rule: the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit stated that there is a "compositional difference" between milk from cows receiving growth hormone and those that don't, and ruled that companies are free to label their products as "rBGH free" and "rBST free." F
- Indiana: In 2008, the Indiana legislature considered a bill to make artificial hormone-free labeling illegal, claiming milk would be "misbranded" if "compositional claims cannot be confirmed through laboratory analysis."#FN_3128 The bill did not pass the legislature.
- Kansas: In 2009, the Kansas legislature passed a bill that deemed any milk, milk product or dairy product label with a statement related to milk composition including "No Hormones," "Hormone Free," "rBST Free," "rBGH Free," and "BST Free" as false and misleading. Governor Kathleen Sebelius vetoed the bill.
Similar labeling controversies took place in Missouri, New Jersey, Utah and Vermont, but ultimately, no state made it illegal to label milk or dairy products as rBGH-free.
Despite industry efforts to keep consumers in the dark, food producers and suppliers have been listening to consumer concerns. In 2007, United States grocery chains Kroger and Safeway prohibited the use of rBGH-treated milk in their store-branded dairy products. In January 2008, Starbucks stopped using rBGH-treated milk, and in March 2008, WalMart prohibited rBGH use in their store-brand milk products. In August 2008, Monsanto sold the division of the corporation that produces rBGH to Eli Lilly.
Originally published in Sustainable.org


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Prince George plant plans 2014 expansion
By Veronica Garabelli
A new year means new opportunities
for Service Center Metals in Prince George County. The aluminum
extrusions manufacturer not only is celebrating its 10-year anniversary
this year but also is planning to expand in 2014.
Scott Kelley, the company's
president and CEO, says the expansion would add more than 20 employees
and 80,000 square feet to its 150,000-square-foot-Prince George
facility, which now has 120 workers. Service Center Metals currently
produces bars, rods, pipes and custom shapes.
As part of the expansion, the
company will recycle scraps from its production to create cast-aluminum
billets. The billets then will be used as raw material in its extrusion
manufacturing. The result, says Kelley, is a cheaper, greener
alternative because the company will not have to buy raw material from
third-party vendors.
Service Center Metals was founded
in 2002 by Kelley, Randy Weis and Chip Dollins Jr., three former
Reynolds Metals Co. executives. Unlike bigger competitors, the company
deals exclusively with service centers, which resell the products to
manufacturers. "It was a unique concept, and we wanted to make sure our
customers understood our commitment to their industry," Kelley says.
To launch the company, the three
founders began raising money a week before 9/11. Economic ripple effects
from the terrorist attack slowed down the financing process. "We got to
the point where we had to make a decision whether to continue or go
back into the work force," Kelley says.
They stuck it out and shipped their
first product in 2003. By 2006 things were looking good; the company
doubled the size of its plant and tripled capacity.
Service Center Metals, however, hit
a rough patch in 2008 during the Great Recession. Demand fell by 40
percent, forcing the company to cut production jobs. Nonetheless, Kelley
says, the company bounced back and was able to hire back its full crew
of workers by the next summer.
"We're probably going to be more
successful than we ever thought," Kelley says. "Even with the recession,
which was quite a jolt, the company is doing extremely well. We are
able to grow, and our customers and investors and, more importantly,
employees have a lot of confidence in our ability to grow the business."
In September, Service Center Metals
received a Resilience Award for manufacturers from the Initiative for
Business in Society at the University of Virginia's Darden School of
Business. The awards recognize companies that have shown resilience in
economically depressed areas of the state.
© 2011 Service Center Metals
5850 Quality Way
Prince George, VA 23875
(888) 518-1550


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And because I had a very, very early morning that I will tell you about later.
Just after Christmas, when you feel bad about buying yourself dresses because it was just Christmas, I bought myself a dress. I felt bad about it.
And by the time I got around to making the purchase, it was nearly sold out but I loved the dress (sleeves! pockets!) and I had to hope and pray that I could squeeze into a 0 petite.
Spoiler alert: I can.
It's just short. Scandalous short.
But that's what tights are for. Maintaining dignity in the workplace.


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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Aug. 30, 2008) - After losing the season opener to the host Pirates, the ETSU volleyball team came back strong on the second day of the ECU Tournament to post a comeback win over High Point and a three-set win over Howard. The Bucs defeated
"To go on the road and come back 2-1 is a great start for this young team," said head coach Lindsey Devine. "Again we had good contributions from everyone on the team, and when it came time to get a ball down you could count on anyone to get it done."
The Bucs (2-1) were led by Amanda Youell (
"We stressed in preseason about always being competitive," Devine said. "It was evident that the team took that seriously in the first game yesterday and that carried over in the comeback win against
Offensively Lauren Baufield (
The Bucs are back in action next weekend as they head to


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Three Cougars Earn NAIA All-American Honors
KANSAS CITY - The Cougar men's basketball team placed three players on the NAIA Division I All-American squad.
Senior Jordan Dressler was one of 10 players selected to the First Team, while juniors Derrick Dilworth and Devin Griffin received Honorable Mention accolades.
Dressler, the American Midwest Conference Player of the Year for the second season in a row, averaged a team-best 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds while starting all 36 games during his senior campaign.
The Columbia native was named to the NAIA All-Tournament team after averaging 21.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest in the Cougars' three national tournament games.
Jordan finished his career in third place on Columbia's all-time rebounding list and tenth in scoring. He is just the second player in program history to be named a First Team All-American.
Dilworth, a junior transfer from Moberly Area Community College, averaged 11.1 points during the season and was named the AMC Newcomer of the Year after starting all 36 games as well for the Cougars.
Griffin was Columbia's second-leading scorer at 12.8 points per game and led the team with 136 assists on the season, joining Dressler and Dilworth on the First Team All-Conference squad. Both Dilworth and Griffin will return for their season seasons next fall.
The Cougars enjoyed a historic season in 2012-13, winning a school-record 35 games and earning its first ever No. 1 national ranking.
Columbia went undefeated during the regular season for the first time in program history and won the AMC tournament championship for the second year in a row.
The Cougars advanced to the quarterfinals of the national tournament with a record of 35-0 before falling to LSU-Shreveport.


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Transition to Online Testing Sparks Concerns
When tens of millions of schoolchildren sit down at computers to take new common assessments in spring 2015, many of their peers will be taking similar tests the old-fashioned way, with paper and pencil, raising questions about the comparability of results—as well as educational equity—on an unprecedented scale.
Both state consortia that are designing tests for the Common Core State Standards are building computer-based assessments, but they will offer paper-and-pencil versions as well, as states transition fully to online testing. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium plans to run the two simultaneous "modes" of testing for three years. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, will do so for at least one year.
In order to rely on the results, however, the consortia must show that the paper and computer modes of the tests in English/language arts and mathematics measure the same things.
The prospect of establishing such comparability between two versions of a test isn't new. States have long used established statistical and psychometric practices to do so when they update their paper-and-pencil tests, for instance, or when they transition from paper-based tests to computer assessments. But the challenge before the two consortia ups the ante by hanging the validity of far more children's test scores on the "linking" or "equating" process conducted by each group.
"In the assessment profession, we need to be able to back up claims we make about students' and schools' performance. Any threat to validity is a threat to those interpretations," said Richard Patz, the chief measurement officer at ACT Inc., which is conducting comparability studies of its own as the Iowa City, Iowa-based company introduces a digital version of its college-entrance exam.
Thorny questions have arisen, too, about whether children who take the paper-and-pencil version of the consortia tests will be at a disadvantage—or perhaps have an edge—compared with their peers who take the computer version.
Could children in high-poverty areas, where technological readiness will likely be lower, lose something valuable by not interacting with the new tests' technologically enhanced items, such as drawing and drag-and-drop functions? Would they actually benefit by sticking with paper exams if they are more comfortable taking tests in that mode?
Mixed Landscape
Consortia leaders say they are confident that comparability and equity questions will be fully addressed by the time the tests make their debut in 2015.
"It's something we need to do carefully, and we intend to do it carefully," said the executive director of the 25-state Smarter Balanced group, Joe Willhoft, who oversaw such studies as the assessment director in Washington state.
Jeffrey Nellhaus, the testing director for PARCC, which includes 18 states and the District of Columbia, said the group's test designers are "very sensitive" to comparability questions and are planning studies to answer them.
Both of the state testing consortia will include technology-enhanced questions on their computer-based exams, such as this interactive sample item from the Smarter Balanced group. You can also try your hand at interactive sample questions from the Smarter Balanced consortium.
About 40 million students attend school in the states that belong to the two consortia. But much is still unknown about how many will take paper tests in 2015 and how many will use a computer. Even rough feedback, however, shows a strong likelihood that large swaths of students will be picking up their No. 2 pencils.
Survey data collected in July by Smarter Balanced—also more of an approximation than a full accounting—show a wide range of technological readiness.
Oregon, long a leader in online assessment, reported that all its districts were capable of giving tests online, while only 45 percent of California's districts did likewise. For PARCC, Mr. Nellhaus ventured a guess of a 50-50 split, but emphasized that data on districts' and schools' readiness are far from complete.
The consortia will not decide who takes the paper-and-pencil version of the test and who takes the computer version, officials said. That will be up to states, and in some cases, individual districts or schools.
Ideally, test results are "indifferent" to the mode in which the test is given, said Henry Braun, a longtime researcher with Princeton, N.J.-based test-maker Educational Testing Service and now an expert in educational evaluation and measurement at Boston College. If the mode of administration helps or hampers some students, the results are distorted, he said.
Differences in Format
Assessment experts say it's much easier to establish comparability when two tests are similar in format, such as a multiple-choice test on paper that becomes a multiple-choice test on the computer. But even then, comparability issues can arise.
A student who must read a text passage in order to answer a multiple-choice question, for example, might be able to read the entire passage on one page of the paper test, but on the computer, she must scroll up and down to do so. Such shifts can affect the performance of some students, said a longtime assessment expert at a major testing company. (Like most experts interviewed for this story, he agreed to speak only if his name was withheld because of his employer's contracts with the assessment consortia.)
Comparability challenges deepen when tests differ significantly in format, experts said. In the case of the two state consortia, their computer-based exams—with technology-enhanced items such as interactivity and animation, and longer, more complex performance tasks—will be able to represent ideas in ways that the paper versions cannot, so establishing comparability between the two will be tougher.
"When an assessment has types of items only available in one mode, it creates a greater challenge for establishing comparability, but it's a familiar one and it's generally a manageable one," said ACT's Mr. Patz.
The other expert, however, said that while the consortia's comparability challenge is "not a fatal problem, it needs to be thoughtfully negotiated and represented to anyone who will use those test scores."
That source said it's not possible to measure everything in the paper-and-pencil version that can be measured in the computer-based version.
"In the technical sense of 'comparable,' the two might not be comparable," he said. "If you were successful in measuring the same things, which would be a stretch if the computer-based version's items are truly innovative, it could well be the case that one [test] could be harder or easier than the other because of how the items are presented."
Writing From Scratch
Assessment specialists outlined various ways to establish comparability between the paper and computer versions of a test. One is to use a set of common items in both, so test designers can compare student performance on those items in the two modes. Another is to randomly assign students to take one or the other mode of the test. Better yet, a study group of students can be selected to take both the paper and computer versions. Consortium officials said such methods are being planned or considered for field tests next spring.
Testing experts also said it's best to create assessment questions from scratch for the paper-based assessment, rather than building paper versions of test items originally designed for the computer.
"You can't replicate the interactivity of the computer environment on paper," said one testing expert. "You need to build alternate forms of the test that measure the same standards [on paper]."
Mr. Willhoft from Smarter Balanced said that his group is adapting items written for the online environment to paper. Mr. Nellhaus from PARCC said its developers are writing paper items from scratch to use in place of technology-enhanced items on the computer, but more traditional item types can be used in both modes.
PARCC's field test next spring will include paper-based as well as computer-based exams, Mr. Nellhaus said. The Smarter Balanced field test will include paper forms only for a small group of students, to study comparability, Mr. Willhoft said. "There's no denying that there will be some items that will be difficult to translate into the paper environment," said Mr. Willhoft. One of the consortium's math items, for instance, asks students to click on images of a cylindrical shape and a rectangular one in an exercise about volume. "But there's nothing inherent in a given standard that requires a certain kind of interactive item," he said. "You can measure the same standard in different ways."
Smarter Balanced faces an extra layer of complexity in comparability because its test is computer-adaptive, meaning it adjusts questions to the test-taker's skill level.
"With an adaptive test, you see right away what questions a kid needs," said Lauress L. Wise, a principal scientist with the Monterey, Calif.-based Human Resources Research Organization, which has performed quality assurance and evaluation on testing systems such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress. "With paper and pencil, you'd have to offer a lot more questions—a longer test—to make it comparable to that. If you can't do that, you won't be measuring the end points [of achievement] as well."
Mr. Willhoft acknowledged that the paper version of the Smarter Balanced test will be "less precise, with a larger measurement error" at those points in the spectrum.
In seeking comparability, a key consideration is what kinds of conclusions will be drawn from the scores on the two types of tests, said Mr. Wise. The degree of comparability takes on added significance when high-stakes decisions are based on the results, he said.
"If this were a graduation test, and some kids were getting denied diplomas because they took one form or another, you could make a plausible argument why there could be a lawsuit," Mr. Wise said. "That could get sticky."
Quality of Tasks
The fact that paper-and-pencil tests might be more widely used in lower-income areas is something that officials at the Education Trust, which advocates school improvement for disadvantaged students, are keeping an eye on. But those potential questions of equity revolve more around the quality of the assessment—and the teaching that goes with it—than about the mode of the test, they say.
Christina Theokas, the organization's director of research, said she worries that if the paper test is less complex and instructionally rich than the computer version, classroom instruction could mirror that.
But students aren't necessarily at a disadvantage just by taking a paper-and-pencil test, said Sonja Brookins Santelises, the Education Trust's vice president of K-12 policy and practice. Top-notch paper tests such as NAEP and Massachusetts' statewide exams demonstrate that, she said. The important thing to watch is not the mode in which a test is administered, Ms. Santelises said, but "the quality of the task" and how well students are prepared for it.
"You can do a rudimentary task on a computer and have it not be beneficial, and you can have a paper-and-pencil task that's instructionally rigorous and very beneficial," she said. "Are students going to have access to the kind of experiences and curriculum that prepare them for those kinds of tasks? Are teachers being prepared and supported to do that?"
Ms. Santelises added: "We need to stay focused on the teaching and learning, rather than on whether we have the right technology to give a test."
Take the test: Try your hand at interactive sample questions from the Smarter Balanced consortium.
Vol. 33, Issue 10, Pages 1, 15Published in Print: October 30, 2013, as Transition to Online Tests Sparks Fears
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DescriptionClick large groups of balls, and catch stars for special powerups such as increased multiplier, extra balls and line blasts.
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As your dad always told you; protection is important, but you should know how to put it on. This time we take a look at the Pantac Force Recon Protective Accessory Kit, which consists of six pieces of protective panels, which you attach to the Force Recon Vest for added protection and better looks in the gaming field.
In real life, the Force Recon Vest is a releasable armor that has soft armor against handgun calibers and shrapnel, and ceramic plates in the front and back that can stop most rifle bullets. The level of protection is already quite good, and allows great mobility, but in situations where added protection at the cost of a slight increase of weight is worth it, you can opt to upgrade the armor with dedicated additional panels.
The kits are universal size, and available in a variety of colors:
It should be noted that the protective kit doesn't necessarily have to be precisely the same camo as your vest. For example if you have a MultiCam pattern vest, you can safely go with Coyote Brown. Olive Drab on the other hand goes well together with traditional Woodland. If you are doing an MP impression, the Black kit is a nice detail thanks to the deltoid pieces, which can be equipped with the black/white patch.
Attaching these pieces simply by looking at them separately isn't as obvious as it would seem. And even if you have a picture of a finished vest, some details may go past you. So let's go through the attachment process step by step. The first step is also the easiest one, and to many it's the most important one: The groin. The front soft armor compartment has clips for this inside. They are the opposite pieces, so they can be connected when stowed away. NOTE: Pantac has recently upgraded the clips from UTX to ITW. These different brand clips are not compatible with each other, so at this point you may run into a problem if you are putting an older and newer product together. If you run into this situation, please contact our after-sales service with your order number to get an updated pair of clips.
The groin protector also covers part of your lower stomach. There has been some confusion about the sizing of this vest, with many thinking that it's too short. However, the shoulder straps can be adjusted to make the vest fit lower, and of course you need some weight in the pouches to pull it down. Even in the lowest position it should be just low enough to cover your bellybutton. If the vest and the replica plate were too long, you would get knocked in the throat when you squat down with the vest on.
After getting the groin panel in place, it's time to attach the parts to the top. At this point it is important that the vest is already adjusted to your height and girth. Leaving a little bit of slack to hang the vest lower is a good idea, since the shoulder panels will raise that area.
Attaching the shoulder panels is best done first. The wider front of the panel is aligned with the vertical velcro fastener on the inside of the vest front, and then rolled towards the rear. If you keep the shoulder piece bent at this point already, it will be more comfortable to wear. The rear of the shoulder panel may reach the back of the vest, depending on your shoulder strap adjustment. The side flaps are best left open at this point.
Next up is the neck panel. It attaches not only to the back of the vest itself, but also to the shoulder panels. Looking from below, spot the velcro-sealed openings of the shoulder panels (where the armor would be inserted), and sandwich the neck panel attachment points between them. There is some room for adjustment here as well, so you can adjust how high up your neck the panel ends up. Too high could restrict you from looking up, but too low would leave the neck exposed.
Finally we get to the deltoid protectors. These panels add width to the shoulders, which makes the fighter look more intimidating. The Pantac panels feature velcro attachments for patches. Remember the flaps on the shoulder panels that you left open? Well, if you closed them, now it's time to rip them open again. The attachment tabs have velcro on both sides, so when it's sandwiched the result is as solid as if they were sewn together. Don't leave slack in this area, and fold the excess tab into the velcro opening of the original shoulder pad.
Congrats! Your vest is now one notch beefier, and it may very well make the opposite sex a bit more attracted to you.


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There is a disconnect between data centre networks and modern distributed applications, and it is not a broken wire. It is a broken networking model.
The traditional three-tier, hierarchical data centre networks as defined and championed by Cisco Systems since the commercialisation of the internet protocol inside the glass house no longer matches the systems and applications that are running in those data centres.
Designed for the dotcom era, the hierarchical model is not fast enough or cheap enough for the cloud. And that is why so many companies have been picking at Cisco's networking lunch and, in turn, been eaten by server makers who know they need to integrate networking in their systems to remain relevant.
Here's the Cisco view of the networking world, somewhat simplified:
Cisco's hierarchical network model
The three-tier network design has redundancy built into the core and aggregation layers, which are cross-connected for multi-pathing as well as for high availability.
It works well when end-users inside the firewall want to get at an application and can over-subscribe the networks because utilisation on them is generally low.
This low network utilisation goes hand in hand with low server utilisation, which was the norm for two decades. It was more important to isolate workloads on physical servers and give them a permanent home with their slice of the corporate network.
The kinds of data zinging around are fatter and more unpredictable than simple web and email traffic, too.
Saturation point
But what happens when you want to drive up utilisation on servers, usually through server virtualisation, while you keep adding more cores to the chip?
What happens is you saturate your network and the three-tier model starts breaking down – and you start looking at the supercomputing space for some inspiration.
"A lot of the applications coming out today – cloud, Web 2.0 or high-speed financial applications – have concepts from high-performance computing, which means doing things massively and in parallel," says Dan Tuchler, vice-president of product management for IBM's system networking division.
More than a decade after selling off its SNA networking business to Cisco and toeing the Cisco three-tier line, Big Blue spent a rumored $400m to acquire Blade Network Technologies, which makes integrated switches for IBM, Hewlett-Packard, NEC and other blade server manufacturers, as well as top-of-rack switches for rack-based servers.
Tuchler doesn't think companies will start unplugging all of their core, distribution and access tier gear any time soon because they have made large investments, and the core switches allow them to plug in other features like firewalls and security appliances into them.
Pick a leaf
But for companies that need network traffic to move more efficiently at higher bandwidth and with lower latencies, then a leaf-spine network that has a flatter architecture, or perhaps a fat tree network inspired by supercomputers or a Clos network inspired by telecommunications, might be just the ticket.
Despite the extra devices used, they can be managed as one and still provide a lower latency than most core chassis devices.
IBM's conception of a leaf-spine network
The leaf-spine network architecture takes a top-of-rack switch that can reach down into server nodes directly and links it back to a set of non-blocking spine switches that have enough bandwidth to allow for clusters of servers to be linked to each other in the tens of thousands.
Generally speaking, a lot of leaf-spine networks don't do oversubscription like the hierarchical networks do, because of high-bandwidth, low-latency demands. By nature you can easily scale this network design. You can start very small and there is virtually no limit to the number of nodes you can connect.
"What matters for these modern workloads is efficiency and bandwidth"
"We see customers with three and sometimes even four tiers in their networks, and it is not very efficient," says John Monson, vice-president of marketing at Mellanox Technologies.
Mellanox is a networking ASIC, interface card and switch maker with expertise in the InfiniBand switch fabric (which by definition was supposed to be a flat network). It got into the Ethernet switching racket through its $218m buy last November of sometime rival and partner Voltaire.
"Scaling up the same old approach just doesn't work," explains Monson.
"I can't wait forever for a virtual machine to go through four layers of switching to get from one point in the network to another. What matters for these modern workloads is efficiency and bandwidth, and if you have networks oversubscribed and hanging off cores, it doesn't work."
Change of direction
The east-west traffic problem is what is really killing the three-tier network in the data centre.
Traditionally, traffic through data centres flowed up and down through the network in a north-south orientation – from access, distribution and core layers and back again.
But no more. According to recent vendor surveys as much as 80 to 85 per cent of the traffic in virtualised server infrastructure – what we now call clouds – moves from server node to server node.
This is more like supercomputing than serving in the traditional sense and, not surprisingly, the networks are flattening out just like they have in high-performance clusters.
Driving up server utilisation on such compute clusters – whether they run financial trading and risk analysis programs, virtual server clouds or parallel supercomputer applications – requires not just a flatter network, but a faster one.
If you stay with Gigabit Ethernet interconnects on a three-tier network, how can you drive up server utilisation if you move from one to two to four to eight cores per processor? You will add cores, but they will spend more and more of their time waiting for data to come back to them over the network.
By hook or by crook
Mellanox is not seeing data centres tossing out their expensive three-tier networks. But for new applications – setting up a new trading system or a private cloud – they are rethinking the networks that lash the servers and storage together.
They are also, says Monson, podding servers together in pods of 500 or 1,000 machines, and then using bridges and gateways to hook these applications into the older networks.
"On a three-tier network, as you scale up the servers, those servers are spending all of their time waiting," says Monson.
"When you flatten the network, the CPU utilisation goes up, and throughput in the application goes up in big jumps, like a factor of two or three times."
That might mean you can support a given application workload with fewer servers on a new leaf-spine network than you would need on an old three-tier network.
And that is music to the ears of chief executives and financial directors. ®